Remember that you do not walk alone. The Lord has promised: "I will go before your face. I will be on your right hand and on your left, and my Spirit shall be in your hearts, and mine angels round about you, to bear you up." (D&C 84:88)
I don't believe in Santa Claus or the Easter Bunny, but I do believe in angels. Have I seen one? No. So, how do I know they are real? Because without a doubt, I have been the beneficiary of their comfort, assistance and help during my life. Though I now know that I've had angels round about me my whole life, it has been in just the last ten years that I began to be aware of them. Elder Jeffrey R. Holland wrote: "One of the things that will become more important in our lives the longer we live is the reality of angels, their work and their ministry...those more personal ministering angels who are with us and around us, empowered to help us and who do exactly that. I believe that we need to speak of and believe in and bear testimony of the ministry of angels more than we sometimes do."
The term angel means "messenger." An angel is any messenger sent by God to do His work. Who are these angels? Angels are children of our Heavenly Father. President Joseph F. Smith explained: "When messengers are sent to minister to the inhabitants of this earth, they are not strangers, but from the ranks of our kindred, friends and fellow-beings and fellow servants." What President Smith is implying is that those angels who attend to us here may be those that we knew during their mortal lives and have crossed over to the other side of the veil. Often times angels are assigned to us because of our family ties to them. I believe without a doubt that one of my ministering angels is my deceased husband, Vic Harrison. Keep in mind that we too may serve as an angel to help give direction, guidance and help. That service may be inspired by the Holy Ghost or by an angel. Elder Jeffrey R. Holland summed it up this way, "In the gospel of Jesus Christ we have help from both sides of the veil."
Angels may minister to us for a myriad of purposes according to our temporal and spiritual needs, but always in keeping with God's divine will and while honoring our agency. I have had times where the protecting power of angels was evident, but their help was not solicited. I will share a story below about one such instance for me. However, there are times when we can and should ask for the power of angels to help us and others. I have also done that. Just like Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ, angels will honor our agency and not intrude. It is my opinion that angels cannot minister to us and help us in certain situations until we invite them to do so. That is why I often invoke their help in my daily prayers. Elder John A. Widtsoe once stated: "Many intelligent beings, superior to us, no doubt take part in helping man to do his work on earth. There are angels and spirits, who, no doubt, have assigned to them the care of men and women who walk upon the earth. Man is not alone; he walks in the midst of such heavenly company, from whom he may expect help if he seek it properly and strongly."
I would now like to share stories of my own and from others who had angelic interventions. Often times these interventions were not solicited.
In a book that I recently purchased from President Russell M. Nelson, he shares a powerful story of the Lord's promise that "my angels (are) round about you, to bear you up." "Sister Nelson and I are the beneficiaries of that promise. On one occasion (May 29, 2009), we were attacked by armed men with malicious intent. They announced their purpose: to kidnap her and to kill me. After they maliciously molested us in those evil objectives, they became totally foiled. A gun to my head failed to fire and Sister Nelson was suddenly released from their hideous grasp. Then they disappeared as quickly as they appeared. We were mercifully rescued from potential disaster. We know that we were protected by angels round about us. Yes, the Lord's precious promise had been invoked in our behalf."
One of my fellow ward members, Ron Knowlton, gave an account in a talk at church about the time that he was protected by an angel. He was working for my brother-in-law and sister-in-law at their property in Mancos, CO. He fell off the roof of a building on their property. He told us that it was his angel father who protected him as he fell, most likely preventing serious injury.
I have also personally been the recipient of angelic protection. A few years ago my husband, Mark, and I were working to take down trees surrounding our cabin. In a freak accident, I lost my balance and I fell onto the blade of an operating chainsaw. I saw my hands falling onto the chainsaw blade and there was nothing I could do to stop it from happening. I closed my eyes, expecting the worse. But when it was all said and done, my hands were not injured. The chain had inexplicably come off the bar and the chainsaw stopped operating. Mark was frantic as he pulled me off the saw. He looked at me in disbelief after seeing that I was OK, and he told me that he could not explain why the chain came off the bar. My hands should have sustained serious injuries. He told me that someone was looking over me. As I walked away, it was revealed to me that that someone was my deceased husband, Vic.
The following story was one in which I actually sought and prayed for the help of my ministering angel, Vic, to help my husband, Mark. Mark and just come off a stressful 13-hour night shift after just a couple hours of sleep the day before. The plant was operating poorly for various reasons and had been for over a week. He and his co-worker had fought to keep the plant on-line the whole night. As he was coming home exhausted early that Sunday morning, his truck's engine seized up. Luckily it happened close to home and the truck was able to coast to a stop in front of the house. After 2 hours of sleep, he got up to see if he could diagnose the problem with the truck. After a few hours of reviewing the situation, it turned out we would need a new engine.
He tried to rest before going back to work that night but was not able to sleep. It was going to be another tough night. He was exhausted, stressed and worried. I tried to convince him to stay home and to call in sick. He had not taken a sick day since he started the job a year before, and he wasn't going to do it now. I had a very bad feeling when he left for work, and that feeling wouldn't leave me.
I had choir practice that night and didn't feel like going because I was worried about Mark, but the Spirit told me that I needed to go. My drive to choir practice took me right by the plant, and as I looked that way when I drove past, I got the distinct impression that I needed to pray for Mark. I parked the car and bowed my head to pray. But instead of my normal prayer to God for his protection, I invoked the help of an angel; one in particular. I called upon my deceased husband , Vic, to help Mark. My prayer went something like this: Vic, I'm calling on you to help Mark tonight. Last summer you came to me and let me know that you wanted your temple work done. Mark did that for you. Now I need you to help him. When you were here on earth, you were an operator at the refinery and you were good at your job. Now I need you to use those skills to help Mark run the board and keep the plant operating. Help him have the confidence to do it. Keep him alert and safe and while you're at it, just fix the problem.
As I said amen and lifted my head, my eyes gazed on the clock in the car. The time read 7:23. The time itself wasn't significant; it wasn't even correct. It should have read 6:23 due to the time change. But if you turn the time into a date, it was very significant to me. 7:23 or July 23rd was Vic's birthday. It was only there for a few seconds, but to me it was a sign he heard my prayer and was there to help. I said a quick prayer of gratitude and then went to choir practice with my burden lifted and with peace of mind. When I got home after choir practice, I texted Mark and asked him how it was going. He said the plant was running well. So far, so good. I let him know that I was praying for him. Normally when I tell him that, I get a thumbs up, a heart or just a simple thanks. That night he texted me that he could feel my prayers.
It is my testimony that angels do exist and that they are at work among us now. I appreciate this reminder from President Holland, "In the process of praying for those angels to attend us, may we try to be a little more angelic ourselves."
Note: A few of the comments noted in this blog come from the book Angels: Agents of Light, Love and Power by Donald W. Parry. If you are interested in finding out more about the topic of angels, I highly recommend this book. Also, I have included two additional stories about the protection of ministering angels in the Others' Stories page of this website. One was submitted by my brother and the other from my sister. Even though these events took place years ago, I only learned about my siblings' experiences two years ago during a visit to see my family in Ohio. Each has a powerful testimony that their lives were saved due to timely intervention by angels.